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Skips are a crisp from the United Kingdom and Ireland; which were first launched in 1974 in
prawn cocktail Prawn cocktail, also known as shrimp cocktail, is a seafood dish consisting of shelled, cooked prawns in a Marie Rose sauce or cocktail sauce, served in a glass. It was the most popular hors d'œuvre in Great Britain, as well as in the United S ...
flavour. Skips are similar to Chinese prawn crackers, although they are smaller and have a finer texture that makes them fizz and melt on the tongue. The snacks are made by
KP Snacks KP Snacks is a British producer of branded and own-label maize-, potato-, and nut-based snacks, "Choc Dips" and nuts. The ''KP'' stands for “Kenyon Produce”. The company is based in Slough, England, UK. History The company was founded in ...
under license of the German snack food company Intersnack. In the United Kingdom, they are made with
tapioca Tapioca (; ) is a starch extracted from the storage roots of the cassava plant (''Manihot esculenta,'' also known as manioc), a species native to the North and Northeast regions of Brazil, but whose use is now spread throughout South America ...
starch and in Ireland with potato starch. Packets of Skips often have
joke A joke is a display of humour in which words are used within a specific and well-defined narrative structure to make people laugh and is usually not meant to be interpreted literally. It usually takes the form of a story, often with dialogue, ...
s or
tongue twister A tongue twister is a phrase that is designed to be difficult to articulate properly, and can be used as a type of spoken (or sung) word game. Additionally, they can be used as exercises to improve pronunciation and fluency. Some tongue twisters pr ...
s written on the back, which are aimed at children. Other flavours, such as
pickled onion Pickled onions are a food item consisting of onions (cultivars of '' Allium cepa'') pickled in a solution of vinegar and salt, often with other preservatives and flavourings.ReBoot Dots Doughnut (pink bag) and a ReBoot pizza flavour, Sweetcorn Relish (1985, yellow bag and Sweet'n'Sour have been available in the past. In 2002, KP launched 2 new variations of Skips intended to offer a 'unique taste sensation'. Buzz Boltz featured a 'crunch-melt' experience and Tickle Pickle delivered a 'puff-melt' sensation. Both have since been discontinued. Since early 2006, Skips have seen a 30% reduction in saturated fat and a 10% reduction in sodium and are made with 100% sunflower oil. Skips contain no artificial colours or flavourings. In 2012, the brand and KP Snacks was sold by United biscuits to German company Intersnack. In the Republic of Ireland, Skips are sold under the Tayto brand, which is also owned by Intersnack.


Sponsorship and TV adverts

The children's theme has been extended in previous years with the sponsorship of Dragon's Fury, a popular attraction at
Chessington World Of Adventures Chessington World of Adventures Resort is a theme park, zoo and hotel complex in Chessington, Greater London, England, around southwest of Central London. The complex opened as Chessington Zoo in 1931, with the theme park being developed along ...
. Ex-'' EastEnders'' actress Daniela Denby-Ashe, who played Sarah Hills in the show and Janey Harper in '' My Family'', appeared in a Skips advert as a teenager. Also in the 1980s, wrestler Giant Haystacks appeared in a TV advert for Skips, with the closing line "Dainty aren't they?".
Action Biker ''Action Biker'' (also known as ''KP Skips Action Biker with Clumsy Colin'' in the UK) is a 1985 game for the Atari 8-bit family, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum released by Mastertronic. The game was a tie-in with snack food KP Skips, whose ma ...
, a mid-1980s budget computer game from Mastertronic, featured the Clumsy Colin character from the then-current Skips adverts, as well as KP Skips branding on the case artwork. Actor
Craig Charles Craig Joseph Charles (born 11 July 1964) is an English actor, comedian, television and radio presenter. He is best known for his roles as Dave Lister in the science fiction sitcom '' Red Dwarf'' and Lloyd Mullaney in the soap opera '' Coronati ...
voiced a series of ads as an anthropomorphic tongue, meant to be the viewer's. The ads aired with the closing line "Stick a Skip on your tongue; it asked for it!"


See also

* List of brand name snack foods


References

{{reflist Products introduced in 1974 Brand name snack foods British snack foods United Biscuits brands